CVS Settles Consumer Protection Lawsuit

RIVERSIDE (CBS) — CVS will pay $2 million to settle a consumer protection lawsuit filed by the district attorneys of Riverside and two other counties.

They are accusing the company of overcharging customers for sale items and engaging in misleading advertising, it was announced Friday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Maureen Duffy-Lewis signed a final judgment this week under which CVS/pharmacy Inc. agreed to pay $1.2 million in civil penalties and $420,000 in investigative cost and contribute $300,000 to the state’s Department of Measurement Standards.

The company did not admit liability, but agreed to pay $100,000 to the Consumer Protection Trust for the enforcement of consumer protection laws, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.

CVS agreed to complete all corrective action involving advertising by Oct. 30 and to initiate and administer pricing programs for a three-year period to ensure that customers are not overcharged.

The company will also give customers up to $2 off an item if it scans at a higher price than advertised.

Aside from their generally poor front-store management and customer service, CVS is a detriment to the healthcare industry!! They compulsively cut their employees’ hours; their pharmacists are so overwhelmed with work that they don’t even have time to properly review your drug history and determine whether your medications may or may not adversely react with each other. Ditch the corporate monsters that treat the numbers and not the patients, and support your local independent pharmacies.